Everyone Was Isolated by Personal Order of Nikol: Ishkhan Sagatelyan on War Days

The member of the Bureau of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), Ishkhan Sagatelyan, a parliamentarian from the "Armenia" alliance, has provided exclusive details about the events occurring in Artsakh during the war days. We present the complete Facebook post.

“On September 29, there was a regular meeting of the Supreme Body. Hrant Margaryan was present at the meeting, and he presented the activities of the ARF's "Volunteer Movement," stating that there are already 800 volunteers registered, and the first battalion is stationed in the north, waiting for the command of the Ministry of Defense for the second battalion to be deployed. Until then, they decided to train the volunteers for a few days before their departure, and the activities had already begun at the military base in Byurakan.

It was also discussed how to provide the necessary supplies for the battalions. The general situation was addressed, and we already had many concerns. It was decided to document these and send them to Nikol Pashinyan in a letter; however, we later decided to meet in person to hear his views on these issues. On October 1, I, Hrant Margaryan and Armen Rustamyan met with Nikol Pashinyan. The meeting lasted about an hour, during which we presented several issues, particularly:

1. We stated that the evacuation of secure areas was a mistake; at this moment, there isn’t even a baker in Stepanakert, and the rear operations are organized very poorly.
2. The operations of the MOB (Mobilization) are not organized, and there is a chaotic situation. We provided specific examples.
3. We emphasized that this is a war of existence—it is necessary to set aside old-new and former-current issues and unify all forces.
4. We highlighted the importance of conducting proper negotiations with Russia, presenting several proposals in this regard.

He listened to the raised issues, took notes, answered some of our questions, and described the situation at the borders as we suggested. He assured us that they are working in all directions and thanked us for the work of the volunteer movement and the efforts of the ARF's advocacy offices abroad.

That day, we also told him clearly that in our opinion, the war would last for a long time, and resources must be evaluated correctly without making mistakes. During the war, I met with Pashinyan 5 times, and this was the first meeting.

On October 2, our friend Gegham Musheghyan was killed. Gegham was the head of the ARF’s Yerevan City Committee, nicknamed "Munshat" by his friends for his stubborn and demanding nature. He had participated in both Artsakh wars—a true Armenian, a good man, a good friend...

On October 2, we also had wounded: members of the ARF Youth Union, Yura, Arsen, Gevorg, as well as older friends Kher, Urfon, Shakhen, Mayis, Makich. I had planned to go to Artsakh on October 4, but after hearing that news, I got the approval of the Bureau's friends and moved towards Artsakh. (I had already said that there should be a distribution of responsibilities, and everything should be done in coordination). On the way, I was in constant contact with the wounded friends who were being transferred to the Sisian hospital. I met the guys in the hospital with great difficulty. The atmosphere in the hospital was horrifyingly oppressive; dozens of wounded, chaos, but composed doctors, nurses, caring staff that you couldn't miss. In the ward of the guys, there were also 6-7 other wounded. I spoke briefly, took some photos, and tried to collect my thoughts. They were heavily affected by the news of Gegham. Arsen was very pale, shot in the back, and I asked about the condition of the other wounded. We talked and I moved on. I was accompanied in Syunik by our local friends—Gesan, Artak, and others.

During those days, the guys were also our connection between Artsakh and Yerevan. After seeing the boys, we rested a little and had to move towards Stepanakert. At night, around 11:00 PM, we received news that the road is closed, and it is not advisable to cross at night. We decided to stay in Goris and move in the morning at 6 AM. On the morning of October 3, we reached Stepanakert at 9:30 AM, "Artsakh Park" hotel. The guys were gathered in the hotel yard; I spoke briefly with Davit Ishkhanyan. In front of the hotel stood a pickup truck, hit from all sides, Nver had just dropped Gegham and one lightly wounded soldier who I don't remember the name of, under shelling. I asked Nver how are the guys; he said they are encircled, and I barely got out... I got tangled up; there was no connection with the guys. Davit calmly said, "Don’t panic, I’ll try to make contact now...." Later it turned out that the guys had gotten out of the encirclement and are safe; plans were made to quickly get the truck in order as it needed to deliver supplies to the boys. Arthur Khachatryan, a member of the ARF Bureau, stated, "I will also come and see the boys." My aim in going to Artsakh was not only to see the boys but also to engage in political meetings and get acquainted with the situation on the ground.

Regarding the situation: Stepanakert was abandoned; there were not even open shops or bakeries. On April 3, 2016, I was in Stepanakert during the war, but the streets were being cleaned, as if nothing happened, and that left such an impression on me that I took a picture that time. Now the picture was different: clearly disorganized, confusion, emptiness. My first impression was this. That day, the second and third Presidents of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, were also in Artsakh.

At the hotel, I met Arthur Vanetsyan (Vanetsyan stayed in Shushi; he had just arrived in Artsakh a day earlier). We exchanged news and called Robert Kocharyan; he said, “I am at Vitaly Balasanyan’s office.” I went with Arthur to meet him. At that moment, Robert Kocharyan was also in the office along with Yuri Khachaturov, Arkadi Ghukasyan, Vitaly Balasanyan, me, and another person whom I didn’t recognize. After greeting and a brief conversation, we continued the meeting with the three of us. The President was quite aware of the situation, stating that the enemy would do everything to break through the defensive line; we already had territorial losses in the south, but they were not significant. He mentioned that in the north they cannot do so due to the mountainous geography; therefore, they would focus on the south. He described his ideas for getting out of the situation.

We isolated the main problems: disorganization including in the MOB area, neutralization of experienced military leadership, inadequate behavior of the President of Artsakh, and the actions and steps of the Armenian authorities that are not commensurate with the situation. However, it was agreed to avoid public discussion of these issues to avoid speculation, but rather to communicate these matters personally to whom necessary; our goal was not to criticize them but to find solutions to these issues as the country was at war. The main theme of all conversations was also working correctly with allied states at that moment. I suggested that the three former presidents of Artsakh and Serzh Sargsyan meet with Araik Harutyunyan and discuss all existing issues beginning from the chaotic organization of the rear to the inefficient use of resources. They said that at the suggestion of Serzh Sargsyan, Bako Sahakyan and Arkadi Ghukasyan had already communicated this desire to Araik Harutyunyan. Later it turned out that the proposal for the meeting was rejected by Araik Harutyunyan. I should remind you that representatives of Nikol were not leaving Araik Harutyunyan's side; they were under control, rotating one from Avinyan, one from Mirzoyan, Papikyans, Kyaramians.

We decided to stay in contact. I returned to the hotel, where I met Chechen and Haik Vahan, who had just come down from the front lines after a heavy night. Chechen described the situation and made some transfers. At that moment, Stepanakert was under bombardment. I must also mention that the entire staff of ArmNews was stationed in the hotel, who were doing important work at that time—Ara Saghatelyan, Arman, Abraham, Lyka Tumanyan, actively working were Tigran Abrahamyan, Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan, Narek Malyan, and others. The hotel had kind of turned into a headquarters. A command came from the volunteer battalion’s commander, Hamik, with Mikayel Mikayelyan, he had injured his eyes. Before going for medical assistance, we had a brief conversation, he described the situation and was in a hurry to get to the boys.

That evening I found out that the Deputy Prime Minister T. Avinyan was also spending the night in the same hotel. I passed the message that he should come and contact me. That evening we met; my first task was to understand whether they were aware of the situation and whether they understood the seriousness of the moment and to convey all the issues that we had documented. The conversation lasted about 40 minutes. I presented our documented problems that were increasingly deepening, specifically regarding the "chaotic" state of the rear, the actual numbers of casualties, and the necessity of working appropriately with Russia and Iran. I also insisted that steps be taken to involve former military personnel in the defense work. My impression was that he understood the complexity of the situation and assured that they would do everything they could in all directions and that he would convey some observations to Pashinyan. At the end of the conversation, I said, "I hope you and your team understand the weight of your responsibility and what could happen in case of your wrong steps or inaction."

On the morning of October 4, I met with Serzh Sargsyan at the Union of Freedom Fighters. Just as we were starting the discussion, they began actively bombarding again; one "Snairad" fell near the building, and the security personnel entered the room, asking us to go down to the basement. Serzh Sargsyan said, "There’s nothing, it’s normal," and we continued our discussion. By the way, during the blast (explosion), he didn’t even blink.... Second and third blasts, again security... in short, we went down to the basement, it was a half-collapsed room, there was no light, and we continued our conversation by candlelight—what should we do? The same assessment was there, Davit Ishkhanyan joined the conversation, then V. Balasanyan, Y. Khachaturov, Levon Mnatsakanyan, Samvel Karapetyan, Vova Gasparyan, Arthur Vanetsyan, Zhanna Galstyan, Samvel Karapetyan, and others. At that moment, the council was significant; look at who was there—all were victorious individuals from the last two wars or combat generals. In a miserable situation, Khachaturov was cursing, saying, "They are fools, they will lead us to defeat." Everyone had been isolated by Pashinyan's personal order; each was proposing something, an exit, but... at that moment, entirely different people were in the military bunker deciding the fate of our nation.

At that moment my eyes caught Levon Mnatsakanyan, silently staring at the ceiling, smoking, anger in his eyes, his heart exploding; I had seen those guys during the April War, fire spilling from their eyes, but now... it was a fatal scene... Anyway. At that moment, Mrs. Zhanna made a good suggestion, but it was not approved; it was very extreme, but maybe that was the right thing. I could not understand the behavior of the combat generals and former military. But Nikol had prepared for this war for a long time; remember—he announced in May 2019 that there are treacherous forces in Artsakh who will try to provoke a war, hand over territories to the enemy, and blame the Armenian authorities. And on the 4th day of the war, he said, "There are former military personnel saying that Nikol has given away territories, sold them, you are fighting in vain," he said he has irrefutable evidence. All of this had a single purpose: to isolate the former military personnel who could have changed the situation and unified the people. People were very cautious; "Let’s not do anything that they will blame us for." To be honest, political forces also had this problem; we did not speak publicly about the real situation because a large-scale attack was about to start, accusing us of "weakening the rear, hitting from behind; it’s treason and so on." In short, the government had done good preparatory work in these matters. I returned from Stepanakert with deep concerns but with the belief that everything is not lost, that it is possible to change the situation.... On my return, I decided to definitely meet with President Armen Sarkissian. I wanted to personally present all the issues, everything I had seen, and urge for steps to be taken... During the war days, there were always people from our political leadership in Artsakh. Bureau representative Hakob Ter-Khachaturyan, Armen Rustamyan, and other friends were there.

PS: While writing about the war days, I constantly think about whether to publish all this or not, but sometimes I decide to publish because certain scoundrels are trying to distort the truth and present the actions of the ARF, former presidents, and the opposition during those days in a different light. The opposition has demonstrated an exceptional state-oriented stance during the war days, and that is a fact; as for the other facts, I will address them in the coming days...”